Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 114. Natasha Hastings, Sprinter & 2X Olympic Gold Medalist

Transcript

114. Natasha Hastings, Sprinter & 2X Olympic Gold Medalist · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: The second I think something negative, I change it to
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Speaker 1: a positive. But then also I practice something that I
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Speaker 1: call my ims and it literally just I'm beautiful, I'm smart,
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Speaker 1: I'm powerful, I'm a champion. And some of those things
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Speaker 1: are things that I may not even believe yet, but
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Speaker 1: I'm going to keep saying it until I believe it.
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Speaker 2: Hey, Hurdlers, Emily and Badi bringing you Episode one fourteen
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Speaker 2: of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast where I sit down
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Speaker 2: with inspiring individuals to chout about everything up from their
0:45
Speaker 2: big winds to how they've gotten through some of life's
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Speaker 2: toughest moments. On the show, you can expect vulnerability, motivation,
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Speaker 2: and candid discussions with everyone from top athletes to aspiring
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Speaker 2: entrepreneurs on what it really takes to follow your passions.
1:00
Speaker 2: My mission is simple to inspire you to be your
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Speaker 2: best self, move with intention, and have some fun along
1:08
Speaker 2: the way. As I continue on my week of reposts, today,
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Speaker 2: I am bringing you the one, the Only, Natasha Hastings.
1:17
Speaker 2: She's a sprinter, two time Olympic gold medalist and honestly
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Speaker 2: just an awesome, awesome woman. For today's episode, from February
1:27
Speaker 2: of this year, I sat down with Natasha at the
1:29
Speaker 2: under Armored Human Performance Summit at their Baltimore headquarters, and
1:34
Speaker 2: from the second she walked in the room, I was
1:37
Speaker 2: just in awe of her strength, of her passion, and
1:40
Speaker 2: her I can literally do anything attitude. Today, she talks
1:45
Speaker 2: to me about a few different hurdle moments in her
1:47
Speaker 2: career that made her realize she had to squash negative
1:50
Speaker 2: thoughts to truly reach her full potential, and we talk
1:54
Speaker 2: about how she did that. She also shares what it's
1:57
Speaker 2: like to stand on the podium at the Olympic Games,
2:01
Speaker 2: as well as what it was like to hit the
2:03
Speaker 2: track for the first time post baby. My favorite thing
2:07
Speaker 2: about this episode I reflect on it all the time,
2:09
Speaker 2: was that Liam, her little baby boy, actually sat in
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Speaker 2: on this recording and was the most well behaved child,
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Speaker 2: like literally ever. This one is full of so much
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Speaker 2: inspiration and I am so amped to bring it back
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Speaker 2: to the feed as always at Hurdle Podcast at emily
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Speaker 2: A Vadi. With that, let's get to hurdling today, I'm
2:47
Speaker 2: sitting down with Natasha Hastings. Good morning, Good morning, how
2:52
Speaker 2: are you today?
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Speaker 1: Good?
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Speaker 2: I'm excellent. I feel like we need to tell the
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Speaker 2: people at home about my extra special guests the podcast.
3:01
Speaker 2: Liam probably not gonna say much.
3:03
Speaker 1: Was she going to say anything? Good morning?
3:06
Speaker 2: Oh, we've got a deep breath coming from baby Liam.
3:09
Speaker 2: How old is Liam now?
3:10
Speaker 1: He's five months?
3:11
Speaker 2: Five months? Yeah, he is a stud.
3:13
Speaker 1: Thank you.
3:14
Speaker 2: I saw him yesterday wearing the cutest little under armor polo.
3:18
Speaker 2: Now we are in a cable knit sweater. I also
3:21
Speaker 2: don't know if I've ever seen such a well bade baby.
3:24
Speaker 2: He's just staring at me right now. Good morning. Not
3:28
Speaker 2: going to say good morning, No, not today. It's cool.
3:32
Speaker 2: For those of you that don't know Natasha, she's a
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Speaker 2: gold medalist both the two thousand and eight twenty sixteen
3:38
Speaker 2: Olympics the four by four hundred meter relay. Were you
3:42
Speaker 2: always in to running fast?
3:45
Speaker 1: Yeah? So I feel like I've been running for my
3:50
Speaker 1: entire life. I've been running as long as I can remember.
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Speaker 1: Both of my parents ran track. They actually came to
3:55
Speaker 1: the States on athletic scholarships, so it was just always
3:59
Speaker 1: a round. I remember my father was a coach at
4:05
Speaker 1: their Alma Mata, and I used to go to practice
4:07
Speaker 1: with him and try to raise the guys. And I
4:10
Speaker 1: was like five or six. So yeah, I've been running
4:13
Speaker 1: in circles for a very long time.
4:15
Speaker 2: For a very long time. I mean five or six
4:17
Speaker 2: is a pretty young age to really kick it off. Yeah,
4:20
Speaker 2: so you were running, I mean through elementary school and
4:22
Speaker 2: then once you got to junior high it was like,
4:25
Speaker 2: I'm going to join the track team.
4:27
Speaker 1: So I actually joined the track team when I was nine,
4:30
Speaker 1: So it was like fourth or fifth grade. And the
4:34
Speaker 1: way that happened, my mom used to take me to
4:36
Speaker 1: attract meet in New York called the Kogate Women's Games.
4:39
Speaker 1: It's a meat still going on. I think they just
4:41
Speaker 1: had their fiftieth anniversary. But my club coach basically discovered
4:45
Speaker 1: me there and I joined the team. It was probably
4:50
Speaker 1: like a November or December, and he coached me straight
4:53
Speaker 1: through high school. So I officially joined a team when
4:58
Speaker 1: I was nine, nine going on ten.
5:00
Speaker 2: And I mean when you're nine, your view of being
5:02
Speaker 2: part of a team is so much different than say
5:04
Speaker 2: when you're you know, in your teens and beyond that. Yeah,
5:08
Speaker 2: the competition aspect is the same. Obviously, you're moving fast,
5:11
Speaker 2: you're working for something. When you're nine, it's like it's
5:14
Speaker 2: fun of games, right, Yeah.
5:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was definitely. I feel like I've been getting
5:18
Speaker 1: that question a lot this weekend about like when did
5:23
Speaker 1: I realize I was fast and this and that. When
5:25
Speaker 1: I was nine, it was just that, like, I was fast,
5:27
Speaker 1: I was winning, I was having fun. When I got
5:30
Speaker 1: to high school it became a little bit more serious,
5:32
Speaker 1: and then when I got to college, it got way
5:34
Speaker 1: more serious, and then yeah, really.
5:38
Speaker 2: Really serious when we're traveling the world for the Olympics.
5:40
Speaker 2: So talk to me about what it was like growing
5:43
Speaker 2: up with sports being such an integrated part of your
5:46
Speaker 2: every day, being on the track team, also balancing school.
5:49
Speaker 2: Were you into school?
5:51
Speaker 1: So oddly enough, track was the thing that taught me
5:57
Speaker 1: discipline and got me on the straight and narrow. Before track,
6:01
Speaker 1: I was sort of an average student. And my mom
6:05
Speaker 1: when I joined the team and she realized, like, okay,
6:08
Speaker 1: you enjoy this, then it was like, okay, then you
6:10
Speaker 1: need to make sure that your grades are up. And
6:12
Speaker 1: so it was a thing where I actually took my
6:14
Speaker 1: competitive edge from the track into the classroom. So joining
6:19
Speaker 1: the track team is actually what made me become a
6:22
Speaker 1: straight A student. Up until then, I was just kind
6:25
Speaker 1: of like just doing enough to get by student. I remember,
6:31
Speaker 1: even I was kind of I was a Catholic schoolgirl brat.
6:36
Speaker 2: Oh what's that even mean?
6:37
Speaker 1: And I was just I was I was active, and
6:43
Speaker 1: my track coaches were They were like disciplinarians, and it
6:48
Speaker 1: was so I do remember very vividly that like track
6:52
Speaker 1: was the thing that kind of like I gained some focus.
6:55
Speaker 2: What is life like outside of track for you then,
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Speaker 2: because obviously that's given you like discipline, and you're focused
7:01
Speaker 2: in school and you're getting these a's, But are you
7:04
Speaker 2: having much of a social life growing up? Are you
7:06
Speaker 2: enjoying yourself? What's that like?
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Speaker 1: I mean, I had friends, and most of my friends
7:11
Speaker 1: were from the track team, but I wasn't really getting
7:14
Speaker 1: into what the average fifteen and sixteen year old was doing.
7:18
Speaker 1: I can't say that. Like not that I didn't go
7:22
Speaker 1: to the movies or I didn't go to the mall,
7:24
Speaker 1: but it wasn't Track was definitely my focus. I mean
7:27
Speaker 1: I remember my senior prom. Everyone was going to the
7:30
Speaker 1: after party and I went home because I had city
7:33
Speaker 1: champs the next day. Don't feel sorry for me. I
7:35
Speaker 1: don't feel like I missed out on anything. Yeah, because
7:39
Speaker 1: while I wasn't doing some of those things, by the
7:42
Speaker 1: time I graduated high school, I'd already been to Italy
7:45
Speaker 1: for World Juniors.
7:46
Speaker 2: Totally different experience. Yeah, and did you know that you
7:51
Speaker 2: wanted to go to USC or how did that kind.
7:54
Speaker 1: Of came now? So I USC South Carolina, let's be clear,
7:58
Speaker 1: the original us SEE established eighteen oh one. And my
8:03
Speaker 1: college coach, he hates to hear this sometimes because I
8:06
Speaker 1: played hard to get and he had to recruit me
8:08
Speaker 1: like every other school did. But I think I knew
8:12
Speaker 1: I wanted to go to South Carolina as early as
8:13
Speaker 1: my freshman or sophomore year of high school. A lot
8:16
Speaker 1: because of my event being a quarter miler, South Carolina
8:19
Speaker 1: was just like a quarter mileert powerhouse, and a lot
8:23
Speaker 1: of great quarter milers went to South Carolina. So yeah,
8:28
Speaker 1: I knew pretty early on that I wanted to go
8:32
Speaker 1: to Carolina.
8:33
Speaker 2: So what's your quarter mile pr?
8:36
Speaker 1: Forty nine eighty four.
8:37
Speaker 2: Forty nine eighty four, and how long in your career
8:40
Speaker 2: did it take for you to get to that point?
8:43
Speaker 1: So I actually ran out my junior year of college,
8:47
Speaker 1: so I was twenty one, twenty two, twenty one, and
8:51
Speaker 1: then I've equaled it a few times throughout my career.
8:54
Speaker 2: Equal that, like right on the money, equal that isn't
8:58
Speaker 2: that kind of a crazy thing insane?
9:00
Speaker 1: I'm like, can I just can I do eighty three something?
9:03
Speaker 1: But can I do something exact same thing?
9:05
Speaker 2: All right? So then talk to me a little bit
9:06
Speaker 2: about what life's like in college with all the I mean,
9:10
Speaker 2: being a college athlete is a hurdle within itself.
9:14
Speaker 1: I actually had a lot of fun income Yeah, but
9:18
Speaker 1: it's the thing that I tell people, like especially when
9:21
Speaker 1: I talk to young girls, that I think I had
9:23
Speaker 1: a lot of fun because I was also in the
9:25
Speaker 1: honors college at South Carolina. But I got great grades
9:30
Speaker 1: in school as well, So I you know, you hear
9:33
Speaker 1: them talk about time management and almost shove it down
9:36
Speaker 1: your throat, you know, your senior year of high school,
9:38
Speaker 1: freshman year, I made sure that my work was done.
9:41
Speaker 1: I trained hard, and then I was able to have
9:44
Speaker 1: a blast after that, and then just knowing that I
9:47
Speaker 1: had done my work, I was able to have even
9:50
Speaker 1: more fun. So I was at all the parties. I
9:54
Speaker 1: was that girl.
9:55
Speaker 2: But you never felt like any of that kind of
9:56
Speaker 2: got in the way.
9:57
Speaker 1: No, because like I said, it was after Like I mean,
10:01
Speaker 1: I remember coming back from track meets, and we got
10:03
Speaker 1: back early enough that we could go to the party. Yeah, So,
10:07
Speaker 1: I mean it was after the track meet, it was
10:10
Speaker 1: you know, but yeah, I just made sure that my
10:12
Speaker 1: work was done. Training was you know, like I mean,
10:16
Speaker 1: there was no way around training, and I was able
10:20
Speaker 1: to maximize that social life in college.
10:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I feel like something that's interesting about being
10:25
Speaker 2: a college athlete and definitely something you'll be able to
10:28
Speaker 2: speak to is at this point in your life, a
10:30
Speaker 2: lot of women are coming into their own you know,
10:33
Speaker 2: you're learning about like your wants and your needs and
10:36
Speaker 2: gaining an appreciation for your body. Right at this time,
10:39
Speaker 2: like what is your self image?
10:41
Speaker 1: Like, I think my self image was pretty it was
10:46
Speaker 1: good at that point. So I studied exercise science in college.
10:50
Speaker 1: It was a way for me to sort of study
10:53
Speaker 1: what I love obviously, training and learning about the body
10:56
Speaker 1: and this and that. But it was also at the
10:59
Speaker 1: same time in college and we're hearing a lot of
11:01
Speaker 1: this conversation. Now, there were conversations on the team about
11:04
Speaker 1: our weight and you know, the things that we were eating.
11:07
Speaker 1: And I think having the exercise science background and understanding
11:14
Speaker 1: how the female's body, the female body should function and
11:18
Speaker 1: we shouldn't be less than a certain body fat percentage
11:21
Speaker 1: and that sort of thing. It helped because I did
11:26
Speaker 1: see teammates kind of do some extreme things to lose
11:30
Speaker 1: weight or be fit was the word that our coaches
11:34
Speaker 1: would use sometimes, but I always had my studies to
11:38
Speaker 1: fall back on. That was kind of like, you're crazy,
11:42
Speaker 1: like you want me to lose ten pounds where how
11:45
Speaker 1: So I think I was able to manage that and
11:49
Speaker 1: kind of put it in perspective. Interestingly enough, though, when
11:52
Speaker 1: I left college and became a pro, and it was
11:56
Speaker 1: obviously a lot more pressure at that point, things kind
11:59
Speaker 1: of changed a little bit, But through college I was
12:02
Speaker 1: able to manage it fairly well.
12:04
Speaker 2: So let's talk about then the transition to pro because
12:08
Speaker 2: obviously you're excelling at this crazy level in college. You
12:12
Speaker 2: are amazing. What would you say was one of your
12:15
Speaker 2: biggest accomplishments while you were in your college years?
12:20
Speaker 1: Uh, definitely setting the collegiate records. I did the collegiate
12:24
Speaker 1: record in the four hundred in indoors and outdoors, so
12:27
Speaker 1: and then of course I won nationals as well, So
12:30
Speaker 1: those two things would.
12:32
Speaker 2: Top the lest. Yeah, all right, so we win nationals
12:35
Speaker 2: and we're set up for like we're set up, You're
12:37
Speaker 2: doing it at this point, where does life take you
12:40
Speaker 2: then from when you're graduating USA.
12:43
Speaker 1: So I actually turned professional after my junior year of college.
12:46
Speaker 1: So I actually I did graduate, but I went back
12:51
Speaker 1: to graduate after the two thousand and eight Actually I
12:55
Speaker 1: went back after the two thousand and nine World Championships. Yeah,
12:58
Speaker 1: I started my professional career after junior year. The Olympic
13:01
Speaker 1: season two thousand and eight was my first professional season.
13:04
Speaker 2: When you realize that you're going to the Olympics, describe
13:09
Speaker 2: that feeling.
13:10
Speaker 1: To me, It's actually bittersweet. Why is that? Because so
13:15
Speaker 1: I made it in the relay, I placed sixth at
13:18
Speaker 1: the trials. Top three goes in the individual four hundred
13:22
Speaker 1: and in track, everyone wants to make the individual. So
13:25
Speaker 1: it was cool. I was twenty two and I made
13:27
Speaker 1: my first Olympic team. How many twenty two year olds
13:30
Speaker 1: are on the Olympic team? How many people period are
13:33
Speaker 1: on the Olympic team. But then there was also that
13:35
Speaker 1: disappointment of not making it in the individual.
13:38
Speaker 2: Great perspective twenty two going to the Olympics. You know,
13:41
Speaker 2: all of the women that you're running with. Are you
13:45
Speaker 2: excited about the people that you're running with? Are you nervous?
13:47
Speaker 2: Does it make you, I don't know, I feel.
13:49
Speaker 1: Like definitely nervous, and especially at that point, I didn't
13:53
Speaker 1: have a grasp on Number one. That transitioned from collegiate
13:57
Speaker 1: to pro was one that I just was not prepared
14:00
Speaker 1: for in any sense. And I would say more mentally
14:04
Speaker 1: physically my physical abilities. Definitely I was ready to be there.
14:09
Speaker 1: But it's a whole nother ballgame competing professionally than it
14:15
Speaker 1: is collegiately, and there's no there's no manual. You just
14:19
Speaker 1: kinda have to figure it out. So that took some
14:24
Speaker 1: years actually to come into my own and it took
14:28
Speaker 1: some years before you know, I started, I would say
14:31
Speaker 1: successfully making the transition. I had some tough growing years
14:36
Speaker 1: my first few years as a pro making that transition,
14:40
Speaker 1: and you know, understanding the differences in competing as a
14:45
Speaker 1: pro versus a collegiate.
14:47
Speaker 2: Talk to me a little bit about that mental side.
14:49
Speaker 1: So a lot of it was in how I was
14:51
Speaker 1: speaking to myself, and you know, I was I was
14:54
Speaker 1: doing the work. I was always a hard worker, but
14:57
Speaker 1: I was sort of beating myself before the gun even
15:00
Speaker 1: went off, Like it was a lot of negative thoughts
15:04
Speaker 1: and you know how painful the four hundred is and man,
15:08
Speaker 1: it's gonna hurt and I'm gonna die coming home. Just
15:11
Speaker 1: just terrible thoughts. And then also the pressure of having
15:16
Speaker 1: left college, you know, collegiate record holder. I was like
15:19
Speaker 1: number two or three in the world, and so there's
15:23
Speaker 1: this expectation of now being a great quarter miler and
15:25
Speaker 1: I wasn't living up to that. So there was like
15:27
Speaker 1: all of these things, all of this pressure on my shoulders.
15:31
Speaker 1: It took getting some help from a sports psychologist for
15:34
Speaker 1: me to really kind of, I guess, get a grasp.
15:38
Speaker 1: That took a while, and it wasn't until after not
15:41
Speaker 1: making the twenty twelve team that I actually was like, Okay,
15:46
Speaker 1: maybe I need some help in this area.
15:49
Speaker 2: Do you remember any specific takeaways from the like your
15:52
Speaker 2: first interactions with someone to talk about how you were
15:55
Speaker 2: feeling in that inner dialogue that maybe now you share
15:58
Speaker 2: with others, especially, I mean, you talk two young women
16:02
Speaker 2: all the time.
16:02
Speaker 1: So I'll say it started with a conversation that I
16:05
Speaker 1: had with my mom after the twenty twelve trials. She
16:09
Speaker 1: basically said, you know, I look at you out there
16:11
Speaker 1: on the track, and it's like I can see you know,
16:13
Speaker 1: your mom can see things that no one else can see.
16:17
Speaker 1: She said it flat out, like I can see that
16:19
Speaker 1: you don't even believe that you belong where you are,
16:23
Speaker 1: and I want you to know that you do. She
16:25
Speaker 1: happened to be sitting next to a gentleman at the
16:28
Speaker 1: trials who turned out to be a sports psychologist, and
16:30
Speaker 1: he offered to work with me.
16:32
Speaker 2: Wow, I just got chills, Like that's like such a
16:34
Speaker 2: fait moment.
16:36
Speaker 1: And so he and I started working together shortly after
16:39
Speaker 1: the twenty twelve trials, and it started simply with that,
16:43
Speaker 1: you know, what are your thoughts when you're standing on
16:45
Speaker 1: the line. And I told him, like, these are the
16:48
Speaker 1: things that I'm thinking about, and he was like floored,
16:50
Speaker 1: Like every single thing out of my mouth was negative.
16:55
Speaker 1: And so it was literally just taking those negative thoughts
16:59
Speaker 1: and change them into positive thoughts. And you know, sometimes
17:03
Speaker 1: I always say this quote, and by now I should
17:05
Speaker 1: know who said the quote, but I don't know. Be
17:08
Speaker 1: careful how you speak to yourself, because you might be listening.
17:12
Speaker 1: If I took anything away from that relationship, with that
17:15
Speaker 1: working relationship with my sports psych it was that that
17:18
Speaker 1: like you have to speak positive things over yourself and
17:22
Speaker 1: over your life.
17:23
Speaker 2: It's true because every single day, like we are the
17:25
Speaker 2: person that talks to ourselves the most during any given day,
17:29
Speaker 2: which it sounds silly because they're just thoughts, but those
17:32
Speaker 2: thoughts determine so powerful everything that you do with everyone
17:35
Speaker 2: around you. Talk to me about twenty twelve.
17:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, twenty twelve was definitely a year of shift from everything.
17:43
Speaker 1: Twenty twelve was the year that I moved to Texas.
17:47
Speaker 1: So actually, the day after Christmas twenty eleven, I left
17:51
Speaker 1: South Carolina and moved to Texas. And I made the
17:56
Speaker 1: move as sort of an all or nothing move. Was
18:00
Speaker 1: after college. I had actually went to Florida for a year.
18:04
Speaker 1: I left Florida, went to California for a year, then
18:07
Speaker 1: I went back to South Carolina to finish my degree.
18:08
Speaker 1: I ended up staying there for a couple of years. Obviously,
18:12
Speaker 1: none of those coaching situations worked, and so Texas came
18:17
Speaker 1: about and it was like, Okay, if I move here,
18:20
Speaker 1: this has to work. If not, I'm done done with track.
18:25
Speaker 1: That is. The twenty twelve trials were that summer, of course,
18:28
Speaker 1: and I placed seventh, so I was just one spot
18:31
Speaker 1: out of even making the relay. And so this time around,
18:36
Speaker 1: you know it wasn't I didn't make the team altogether,
18:40
Speaker 1: you know, it wasn't. Oh, I didn't make the individual,
18:43
Speaker 1: but I'm on the relay. I wasn't even on the
18:44
Speaker 1: relay this time. So this was like rock bottom. So
18:50
Speaker 1: I remember walking not speaking to anyone. I was livid,
18:54
Speaker 1: and I literally walked from the stadium back to my hotel,
18:58
Speaker 1: probably a couple miles away, and I took probably close
19:03
Speaker 1: to a week to kind of process things, and like
19:07
Speaker 1: I had it made up in my mind that I
19:10
Speaker 1: think I'm done with track. I think I'm going to
19:12
Speaker 1: go back to school. Between my coaches and my family,
19:15
Speaker 1: they all kind of slowly won by one were like,
19:17
Speaker 1: you know, I think you should rethink this. You're still young,
19:20
Speaker 1: you have some left in the tank. And then that
19:23
Speaker 1: was when I had that conversation with my mom and
19:25
Speaker 1: started working with the sports psyche. So it was a
19:29
Speaker 1: year of disappointment, a year of hitting rock bottom. But
19:34
Speaker 1: I think it was also a year that kind of
19:38
Speaker 1: forced me to, I guess, get to know myself and
19:41
Speaker 1: readjust some things that I believe the changes definitely enhanced
19:52
Speaker 1: my performance, but it also enhanced my personal life because
19:57
Speaker 1: it opened my eyes to how I was viewing myself
20:00
Speaker 1: and the things that I was even believing I was
20:04
Speaker 1: worthy of.
20:05
Speaker 2: So during this time when you're struggling with your relationship,
20:09
Speaker 2: both with yourself and also with the sport of running,
20:12
Speaker 2: do you lean into running or do you kind of
20:16
Speaker 2: find other things as an outlet to help you cope
20:19
Speaker 2: with all of these feelings and these emotions that you're
20:21
Speaker 2: struggling with.
20:23
Speaker 1: I think at that point I started leaning somewhat into
20:27
Speaker 1: other things, other things being my friends, being more intentional about,
20:31
Speaker 1: you know, having meaningful relationships. I mean, I think for
20:35
Speaker 1: as long as I can remember, I surround myself with
20:39
Speaker 1: like minded or like goal people. Spending time with people
20:43
Speaker 1: that were headed in a positive direction in their life
20:47
Speaker 1: or working on positive things. I think was definitely important.
20:50
Speaker 1: Because I talk about sport being in a place of
20:55
Speaker 1: outlet for me, but there is also a fine line
20:59
Speaker 1: of sports is actually work too, so sometimes I actually
21:03
Speaker 1: need an outlet from it as well. So I think
21:08
Speaker 1: that's where a lot of the four hundred meter diva
21:11
Speaker 1: thing comes into play. And like me doing my hair
21:14
Speaker 1: and makeup, particularly for my competitions, I call it a
21:17
Speaker 1: positive distraction. It's something that I do leading up to
21:21
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't just wear makeup to compete, but
21:24
Speaker 1: in those moments, it's a you know, a few minutes
21:28
Speaker 1: away from this big thing that I'm getting ready to do,
21:31
Speaker 1: gives me something to do with my hands and just
21:34
Speaker 1: kind of something that makes me feel good.
21:37
Speaker 2: Talk to me about the four hundred meter diva thing.
21:40
Speaker 1: So that kind of started with my freshman year of
21:45
Speaker 1: high school of college. Sorry. We were going to pen relays,
21:50
Speaker 1: and being from New York, I've run pen relays all
21:54
Speaker 1: through high school. And then so my coach asked me
21:58
Speaker 1: to do an interview. There's media going into certain track meets.
22:02
Speaker 1: So the journalist asked me what made me choose South Carolina,
22:08
Speaker 1: and so I talked about the history of corner Milers,
22:10
Speaker 1: and then I also said, and you know, the girls,
22:12
Speaker 1: they're really pretty, and I mean, I guess, for lack
22:15
Speaker 1: of a better word, they're just divas. So when we
22:17
Speaker 1: went to Philly for penn relays, the headline of the
22:21
Speaker 1: story was the Gamecock divas return to pen Relays. He
22:26
Speaker 1: our coach, coach Fried took it and ran with it
22:29
Speaker 1: like he had outfits made up with Gamecock divas on them.
22:32
Speaker 1: And they may still to this day call themselves the
22:35
Speaker 1: gamecock divas, all right, And so from there four hundredma
22:38
Speaker 1: Diva came out of that.
22:39
Speaker 2: I love it so and it seems like, I mean,
22:42
Speaker 2: you like to embody it now. It's also helps amp
22:45
Speaker 2: you up for what you're about to take on. Yeah,
22:48
Speaker 2: would you say it? Would you agree?
22:49
Speaker 1: For sure? I mean, And while it amps me up,
22:52
Speaker 1: I also I tell people, because you know, I went
22:56
Speaker 1: through the well you're not if you would spend less
22:59
Speaker 1: time and focusing on hair and makeup, then you would
23:02
Speaker 1: perform better. And I was like, oh, well, if fifteen
23:05
Speaker 1: minutes is the reason why you know I had a
23:09
Speaker 1: bad race versus all the hours that I've put in,
23:13
Speaker 1: then you know I have a lot bigger issue than that. Also,
23:17
Speaker 1: I just feel like if I were working at nine
23:19
Speaker 1: to five, you know, there's a part to play. There
23:23
Speaker 1: is a dress code for you know, going to work
23:26
Speaker 1: every day. My job requires me to be on TV.
23:28
Speaker 1: So if I want to look good, what is wrong
23:31
Speaker 1: with me dressing the part and looking appropriate? And it's
23:34
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's really your damned if you do,
23:36
Speaker 1: damned if you don't. Because I look at you know
23:39
Speaker 1: how Gabby Douglas was treated in the Olympics, and it
23:43
Speaker 1: was like there she was focused on her craft and
23:49
Speaker 1: focused on going there and winning these medals. And she
23:51
Speaker 1: went there and performed amazingly, and people were talking more
23:55
Speaker 1: about her hair than about her performance. So it's one
23:58
Speaker 1: of those things that people just want to talk and
24:02
Speaker 1: you know, at the end of the day, you just
24:03
Speaker 1: have to do what makes you happy and screw the haters.
24:06
Speaker 2: Screw the haters. Talk to me a little bit more
24:09
Speaker 2: about the challenges that go hand in hand with being pro.
24:12
Speaker 2: I mean, you dealt with and over came twenty twelve,
24:15
Speaker 2: But then as you're getting back into the swing of things,
24:18
Speaker 2: are you feeling more pressure than ever to perform after
24:21
Speaker 2: having a difficult year.
24:23
Speaker 1: At that point, I had gotten to a point where
24:25
Speaker 1: I was like, well, everyone's counting me out anyway, So
24:29
Speaker 1: it was like there's no way I can get any
24:33
Speaker 1: worse as well, you know, so it was just like,
24:37
Speaker 1: just focus on you. But then there's also I think
24:40
Speaker 1: a level of emotional maturity too, where I have to
24:44
Speaker 1: focus on the things that I have control over. You
24:46
Speaker 1: know what I don't have control over. It just is
24:49
Speaker 1: I was about twenty six, twenty seven, so at that point,
24:54
Speaker 1: i'd kind of brush that off. But I think as
24:57
Speaker 1: I worked through my self where and the way that
25:01
Speaker 1: I viewed myself in the way that I talk to myself,
25:04
Speaker 1: it became more important how I feel about myself and
25:08
Speaker 1: not so much what the expectation of the world is.
25:12
Speaker 2: What are some examples of the types of things you
25:16
Speaker 2: start to say to yourself versus where you came from
25:19
Speaker 2: with such such a negative space, How is that dialogue
25:22
Speaker 2: changing for you at this point?
25:24
Speaker 1: So it's first like the second I think something negative,
25:28
Speaker 1: I'd change it to a positive. But then also I
25:32
Speaker 1: practice something that I call my ims, and it literally
25:36
Speaker 1: just I'm beautiful, I'm smart, I'm powerful, I'm a champion.
25:41
Speaker 1: And some of those things are things that I may
25:44
Speaker 1: not even believe yet, but I'm going to keep saying
25:47
Speaker 1: it until I believe it. There are times that I've
25:49
Speaker 1: had them written on my mirror. I'd say them in
25:52
Speaker 1: the morning when I wake up. I say them sometimes
25:54
Speaker 1: that if I'm having trouble falling asleep, I say them
25:57
Speaker 1: until I fall asleep. I may even do it while
26:00
Speaker 1: I'm getting a massage. It's just I guess it's a
26:03
Speaker 1: form of meditation, affirming myself, you know, training myself to
26:08
Speaker 1: think and speak positively over myself.
26:12
Speaker 2: So we're in a more positive state of mind and
26:15
Speaker 2: things are starting to go well because we're gearing up
26:18
Speaker 2: for twenty sixteen. Talk to me about the road to
26:21
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen because the conversation points must be working a
26:24
Speaker 2: little bit. Yeah.
26:25
Speaker 1: So, I mean from twelve to sixteen was like a
26:29
Speaker 1: slow grind back. I won't say to the top, but
26:33
Speaker 1: to performing well. I guess to the top.
26:35
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, don't give yourself a little bit
26:38
Speaker 2: about it.
26:38
Speaker 1: Yet it was just a slow, steady grind of improvement
26:42
Speaker 1: over the years. I went from twenty twelve not making
26:45
Speaker 1: the team. Twenty thirteen I was national champ, went to
26:50
Speaker 1: the World Champs in Moscow. Fifteen was another World championship year,
26:56
Speaker 1: not so great. I placed second at nationals, I didn't
27:00
Speaker 1: make the finals at World Champs. Sixteen was like, okay,
27:03
Speaker 1: we're back here at the trials. I'm thirty years old again.
27:06
Speaker 1: People are counting me out because I'm now thirty years old.
27:10
Speaker 2: Isn't that insane?
27:11
Speaker 1: Yeah? But and it's even more insane because it's a
27:15
Speaker 1: conversation that has had about women, but not for men,
27:20
Speaker 1: and you know, we start getting that question about retirement,
27:23
Speaker 1: and I'm like, but my counterparts over there is thirty five,
27:26
Speaker 1: and you're not asking him when he's retiring. Twenty sixteen
27:30
Speaker 1: was another like it was just a challenging year in
27:34
Speaker 1: the sense that I went into the year thinking it
27:36
Speaker 1: was it was my year of redemption in the sense of,
27:40
Speaker 1: you know, obviously not having made it in twenty twelve,
27:42
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen was an okay year. And then about a
27:46
Speaker 1: month before the trials, I get a tweak in my hamstring,
27:50
Speaker 1: so then it becomes okay, let's maintain and not make
27:57
Speaker 1: this injury any worse. And then it was literally like
28:00
Speaker 1: I get to the trials and it's like round by round.
28:02
Speaker 1: The first round, I could still feel my hamstring, and
28:06
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I'm unsure. But you know, at this point,
28:09
Speaker 1: I'm working with my therapist and we're still working on,
28:13
Speaker 1: you know, the positive affirmations, focusing on the things that
28:17
Speaker 1: I have control over. It was a literal round by
28:20
Speaker 1: round and I get to the final and I just
28:22
Speaker 1: decide there's no point in taking anything home. I gotta
28:26
Speaker 1: leave it all here. So I don't remember anything about
28:29
Speaker 1: the race. I just remember hitting.
28:31
Speaker 2: I'm really getting him now, all right.
28:35
Speaker 1: I just remember hitting the ground after the race, because
28:38
Speaker 1: I had literally run until the wheels fell off, Like
28:42
Speaker 1: I ran to the point where my legs were like
28:44
Speaker 1: I have nothing left, and I literally fell to the ground.
28:49
Speaker 3: I wish this third idio podcast. I know, Hi, I
28:54
Speaker 3: can't wait till you speak real words. Were my youngest
28:57
Speaker 3: guests ever. Oh my god, he's like a nammord.
29:03
Speaker 1: I remember I was working with I told Bolden at
29:07
Speaker 1: the time, and he said to me after the race,
29:09
Speaker 1: he said, why did you dive for the finish line?
29:11
Speaker 1: You were on the team and I said, I did
29:14
Speaker 1: not dive for anything like that was literally my legs
29:18
Speaker 1: that were like we have nothing left were done and
29:21
Speaker 1: I fell to the ground and everyone else knew I
29:25
Speaker 1: made the team. And I remember laying there on the
29:27
Speaker 1: ground waiting looking up at the scoreboard, waiting for my
29:29
Speaker 1: name to pop up because I literally blacked out. I
29:32
Speaker 1: didn't know what happened in the race where I was nothing.
29:36
Speaker 1: So when the three popped up next to my name,
29:39
Speaker 1: it was like, I think, I remember yelling like because
29:45
Speaker 1: it was just like all of this pent up emotion
29:48
Speaker 1: that finally it was like I'd been through all of
29:51
Speaker 1: this to get here to this moment and finally and
29:54
Speaker 1: but there's that feeling, But then there's also the feeling
30:00
Speaker 1: if it's not over, like I still had to go
30:02
Speaker 1: to Rio, all of these exciting emotions, but also knowing
30:07
Speaker 1: that the road was still long.
30:09
Speaker 3: Yeah.
30:10
Speaker 2: It's interesting because it's like it's you work so hard
30:12
Speaker 2: to get to this moment where you are going to
30:16
Speaker 2: the Olympics, and for that to kind of be like
30:19
Speaker 2: your first thought, like did you feel like you took
30:22
Speaker 2: enough time to celebrate even the accomplishment, which was getting
30:27
Speaker 2: back into getting back to where you had wanted to be.
30:30
Speaker 1: No, and we never do. Even after winning the Olympics,
30:34
Speaker 1: it's like onto the next So it does become like,
30:37
Speaker 1: you know, you have your media tour and you're doing
30:38
Speaker 1: all of this stuff, but then you've got coach, like,
30:40
Speaker 1: all right, training starts in six weeks. There's no time
30:45
Speaker 1: to kind of take it in.
30:48
Speaker 2: When you reflect on that period or like other similar
30:51
Speaker 2: occasions in your life where like really big exciting things happen,
30:55
Speaker 2: do you find a theme in that that you don't
30:57
Speaker 2: take the time to celebrate like this.
30:59
Speaker 1: Thing absolutely all the time and actually I don't know
31:04
Speaker 1: if I can bring this up or how much you've shared.
31:07
Speaker 1: But when we did the panel yesterday with Teddy and
31:10
Speaker 1: I was listening to him and I was like, you know,
31:14
Speaker 1: he's this the winningest judo fighter, but he's like, man,
31:18
Speaker 1: I just want one more gold medal. I just want
31:21
Speaker 1: one more And I heard it in his voice where
31:23
Speaker 1: it's like and it's not a bad thing, but it's
31:26
Speaker 1: a thing where you know, we always say if I
31:29
Speaker 1: just get this one thing, when I just achieved this
31:31
Speaker 1: one thing, when I just do this thing, then I'll
31:33
Speaker 1: be happy no cause you're going to get there and
31:36
Speaker 1: then it's going to be like, Okay, I did it,
31:37
Speaker 1: Now on to the next. And it's this thing that
31:41
Speaker 1: as athletes, I think especially we kind of we fall
31:45
Speaker 1: into that where it's like, Okay, yeah, I need to
31:48
Speaker 1: get this medal, I need to get on this team.
31:49
Speaker 1: But as soon as you do that, then it's like, Okay,
31:51
Speaker 1: now that I have that, I have to go on
31:53
Speaker 1: to doing this.
31:54
Speaker 2: What feels like the most critical aspect of your training
31:59
Speaker 2: is it the physical? Is it the mental? Like where
32:01
Speaker 2: are you at during this cycle?
32:02
Speaker 1: Definitely the mental preparation was one that I was very
32:06
Speaker 1: keen on in from several aspects of you know, going
32:10
Speaker 1: back to you know, staying on the things that I
32:13
Speaker 1: had control over, but also being aware of where I
32:18
Speaker 1: was and what I was there to do. I was
32:20
Speaker 1: there on a mission. I was there to win some
32:24
Speaker 1: more medals, get on the podium, but also having the
32:28
Speaker 1: wherewithal that like I'm at the Olympics, I'm here with
32:32
Speaker 1: special friends, special training partners. My family was there, so
32:38
Speaker 1: you know, even taking the time to be intentional about
32:41
Speaker 1: having those moments was another thing that was important for
32:44
Speaker 1: me because I got to about twenty six, twenty seven
32:49
Speaker 1: years old, and I took a look at my passport
32:52
Speaker 1: and saw all these great places that I've been to,
32:55
Speaker 1: and that's the memory that I have of the places
32:58
Speaker 1: that i'd been to, was that simply I've been there.
33:00
Speaker 1: I have the stamps in my passport, So you know,
33:04
Speaker 1: I wanted to be intentional about being in Rio, being
33:07
Speaker 1: with loved ones, while also being there for one of
33:11
Speaker 1: the greatest things in my life, to compete in the Olympics.
33:14
Speaker 1: So it was more and that is a comparison that
33:19
Speaker 1: I like to make between sixteen and eight was I
33:25
Speaker 1: guess that lends to my emotional maturity in terms of,
33:28
Speaker 1: you know, what I was there for, and understanding the
33:35
Speaker 1: level of how many people go to the Olympics, you know,
33:39
Speaker 1: and just being in gratitude in that sense.
33:43
Speaker 2: I mean it worked. Yeah, yeah, the gratitude strategy seemed
33:48
Speaker 2: to work a lot more than the self defeatist strategy,
33:50
Speaker 2: right exactly, getting gold, being on the podium, I love
33:55
Speaker 2: like that. It's like an instant smile on your face.
33:58
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, I mean it's something obviously no one will
34:01
Speaker 2: ever like. You'll never forget that, never.
34:03
Speaker 1: And it's again comparing the two experiences. In two thousand
34:07
Speaker 1: and eight, I only ran the preliminary around of the
34:09
Speaker 1: four by four, so I was not on the podium.
34:12
Speaker 1: So I'm Olympic gold medalist two thousand and eight, but
34:15
Speaker 1: the experience was a lot different. And so being able
34:20
Speaker 1: to stand on the podium hearing the national anthem in
34:23
Speaker 1: my honor, or, in myself and my teammates honor, being
34:26
Speaker 1: able to look out in the stands and see my
34:28
Speaker 1: mom and my grandparents and my brother and seeing how
34:30
Speaker 1: excited and proud they were of me. No, that's a
34:36
Speaker 1: moment that yeah, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it. Hopefully
34:41
Speaker 1: I lived out again this summer.
34:42
Speaker 2: Do you take the time to celebrate that moment?
34:48
Speaker 1: I wish I did. I wish I did. While I
34:51
Speaker 1: talk about, you know, having been in the moment there,
34:55
Speaker 1: things just went into I mean, the season wasn't over.
34:58
Speaker 1: I still had meets after the Olympics, and then once
35:02
Speaker 1: the meats were over, then there was you know, this
35:05
Speaker 1: appearance and that appearance, and to no, that didn't really.
35:10
Speaker 2: Do you think you'll learn come twenty twenty?
35:12
Speaker 1: I think so. I hope so, And especially now with
35:15
Speaker 1: my son, there are moments that I especially want to
35:18
Speaker 1: have with him. I'm hoping that I'll slow down and
35:22
Speaker 1: have those moments with him.
35:24
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about your son for a beat then, Okay,
35:27
Speaker 2: five months old. It was, as you've spoken out about,
35:30
Speaker 2: like something that you weren't really ready for just yet.
35:34
Speaker 2: How do you feel now that you have him? And
35:38
Speaker 2: do you believe that it happened for a reason this way?
35:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was saying this morning, I was telling someone
35:48
Speaker 1: that I went through all of these emotions like why
35:53
Speaker 1: now I really want to be a mom, but just
35:56
Speaker 1: not right now? What does this mean for my training?
35:59
Speaker 1: I hated pregnancy. I was so tired. I had morning sickness.
36:03
Speaker 1: But when my son came, I'm thirty three, and I
36:07
Speaker 1: looked at him and I was like, man, why did
36:09
Speaker 1: I wait this long to have you? And even through
36:12
Speaker 1: like the hard days of him, like crying a lot,
36:15
Speaker 1: and I think he was a little bit collicky in
36:20
Speaker 1: his first month. I can't wait to have another one.
36:24
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's definitely done something to me, and I
36:31
Speaker 1: can attest to I was that girl that was like, yeah,
36:35
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have kids, but my kids aren't going to
36:38
Speaker 1: run my life. I'm not going to be that mom.
36:40
Speaker 1: My kid's not going to watch TV. He's five months
36:42
Speaker 1: already watching TV. It keeps you quiet, all right, go ahead.
36:46
Speaker 1: When women say motherhood does something to you, it really does.
36:49
Speaker 2: It really does. Talk to me about the hurdle of
36:51
Speaker 2: getting back into training. I mean, obviously five months old,
36:54
Speaker 2: it hasn't been that long and you have a big
36:57
Speaker 2: year coming up.
36:58
Speaker 1: Yea, yeah, it's something I'm still going through, so talk
37:02
Speaker 1: about just the only way is through.
37:05
Speaker 2: Yeah.
37:05
Speaker 1: It was humbling. I mean he was born a month early,
37:09
Speaker 1: and I found myself on the delivery table like, okay,
37:13
Speaker 1: he's here a month early. That means I get to
37:15
Speaker 1: start a month early.
37:17
Speaker 2: Isn't that crazy? That's where your head's at at time.
37:19
Speaker 1: Where my head went like and it all happened so fast.
37:23
Speaker 1: I wish we had time to talk about my birth story.
37:25
Speaker 1: Like I almost had him on the couch. I didn't
37:28
Speaker 1: even know I was in labor. Yeah. I was just like,
37:31
Speaker 1: can't wait to get back on the track. My doctor
37:33
Speaker 1: was like, you know, you were fit before your pregnancy,
37:36
Speaker 1: you were fit through your pregnancy, so I think you
37:38
Speaker 1: can start as soon as three weeks afterwards. I was
37:41
Speaker 1: ready to go. My coaches were like, uh no, you
37:45
Speaker 1: have to heal. And then so I started out walking
37:48
Speaker 1: and then I started jogging. And then when I finally
37:51
Speaker 1: got back to the track with my teammates, then it
37:53
Speaker 1: was humbling because it was like I was excited to walk,
37:57
Speaker 1: I was excited to jog. I could feel the difference.
37:59
Speaker 1: I could feel that like I had a long way
38:01
Speaker 1: to go. But getting back out there with my training
38:03
Speaker 1: partners was like, oh, you have a long way to go.
38:07
Speaker 1: And then there was the day that we had repeat
38:11
Speaker 1: five hundreds and I get to about four hundred and
38:14
Speaker 1: I start feeling this trickling feeling and I'm like, what
38:17
Speaker 1: the heck is this pushed through and then finally I
38:20
Speaker 1: was like, no, I'm grown as hell. I'm not about
38:22
Speaker 1: to pee myself. And I was peeing myself. So there
38:28
Speaker 1: were all of these things that like, there's so many
38:31
Speaker 1: things that moms tell you, but there are so many
38:33
Speaker 1: things that they don't tell you.
38:36
Speaker 2: I see a tell all books like in Your Future Man.
38:40
Speaker 1: So I mean, it's been a humbling journey, and I
38:43
Speaker 1: think being able to maintain a level of sense of
38:47
Speaker 1: humor about it too has been helpful because it's like, yeah,
38:52
Speaker 1: I'm a thirty three year old, grown ass woman peeing myself. Yeah,
38:55
Speaker 1: and I have no control over it, Like okay, But
39:00
Speaker 1: it's been a slow, steady grind there, you know, just
39:03
Speaker 1: as recently as last week, I had a workout where
39:06
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, she's in there, she's coming there. There
39:10
Speaker 1: was definitely, though, probably about a month and a half,
39:13
Speaker 1: where I was like, oooh, I don't know what we
39:16
Speaker 1: signed up for, Like I knew it was gonna be hard,
39:19
Speaker 1: but man, oh man.
39:20
Speaker 2: Would you say that being a mom has the potential
39:23
Speaker 2: to make you a better athlete?
39:25
Speaker 1: I think so, And I see it in the sense
39:28
Speaker 1: that it's already forced me to be way more intentional
39:32
Speaker 1: about my time. And you know, it's everything from it's
39:39
Speaker 1: great to get up in the morning and go to
39:40
Speaker 1: work because it's a space for me to be Natasha.
39:44
Speaker 1: It's a space for me to be you know, not mom. Yeah,
39:49
Speaker 1: but I have to be incredibly intentional about that time
39:54
Speaker 1: in terms of getting the job done in that time,
39:57
Speaker 1: because when that time is over, I'm like, all right, guys,
39:59
Speaker 1: I gotta go. Oh I got to get home to
40:00
Speaker 1: my kid, and I can't wait to get home to him.
40:02
Speaker 1: So it's made me focus in a way that time
40:08
Speaker 1: is definitely I mean, I live by the clock, but
40:13
Speaker 1: now it's like, you know, now I really have to
40:16
Speaker 1: get the job done within a certain time. And then
40:18
Speaker 1: also the way that I focus on my training, where
40:24
Speaker 1: once upon a time I could just go out there
40:26
Speaker 1: and just Okay, this is what we're doing, go do it.
40:29
Speaker 1: That'd be that. Now it's kind of like, oh, I
40:31
Speaker 1: got to focus on this keegel and this smaller muscle
40:35
Speaker 1: that I didn't even know that I had that I've
40:37
Speaker 1: now lost to strengthen because I pushed a baby out.
40:41
Speaker 1: You know, I've found myself refocusing in those smaller areas
40:46
Speaker 1: that once upon a time I took advantage of.
40:48
Speaker 2: And I mean, I feel like it's got to be
40:50
Speaker 2: interesting now after having a baby. You talked about the
40:54
Speaker 2: pressures that go hand in hand with being a professional athlete,
40:57
Speaker 2: and I can't imagine that you can even allow them
41:02
Speaker 2: to come into your space the same way now because
41:04
Speaker 2: you're a different person than you were before you had
41:06
Speaker 2: a kid.
41:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, the it's this journey now is
41:11
Speaker 1: an interesting one because it's a very personal one in
41:14
Speaker 1: the sense that I want to prove to myself what
41:19
Speaker 1: I'm made of and prove to myself that, you know,
41:22
Speaker 1: I didn't let a circumstance just end things for me.
41:27
Speaker 1: I didn't let becoming a mom be the reason why
41:30
Speaker 1: I'd be like, Okay, I'm done. And I as much
41:33
Speaker 1: as it's a personal one for me, I hope that
41:37
Speaker 1: no matter the outcome, it's an example for other moms
41:41
Speaker 1: out there that regardless of what your walk of life is,
41:44
Speaker 1: regardless of what your career is, there's a.
41:47
Speaker 2: Way a lot of people they come to your Instagram page,
41:50
Speaker 2: they see a fabulous diva mom that is ready to
41:55
Speaker 2: you know, take on a big ol big year here.
41:58
Speaker 2: When you look in the what is it that you
42:01
Speaker 2: see looking back at you?
42:03
Speaker 1: I see someone that wants to be vulnerable. Because when
42:09
Speaker 1: you say all of those things about my Instagram, that
42:14
Speaker 1: is something that I feel like. There's strength and vulnerability,
42:18
Speaker 1: and I try my best to be honest. That's why
42:23
Speaker 1: I'm sharing that I peed myself. I haven't peed myself lately,
42:28
Speaker 1: but you know, I want people to know that it's
42:30
Speaker 1: not easy. And while I may put some makeup on
42:33
Speaker 1: and I may make it look easy, there is a
42:38
Speaker 1: struggle there. There. There are bad days. There are days
42:42
Speaker 1: that I question myself. There are days that I'm unsure
42:45
Speaker 1: I'm no different than any other woman, and you know,
42:49
Speaker 1: just going after your goals and your dreams. So I
42:52
Speaker 1: see a vulnerable woman that is getting through her shit.
42:57
Speaker 2: What excites you right now?
43:01
Speaker 1: It excites me and scares me at the same time
43:04
Speaker 1: as the unknown. You know, the unknown is scary. But
43:09
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking about where my life is going and
43:13
Speaker 1: where my son's life is going at this point, and
43:17
Speaker 1: just being able to see him grow into a respectable
43:22
Speaker 1: young man that respects women. Yeah, the unknown, the unknown.
43:27
Speaker 2: I also find that we can't close out this podcast
43:30
Speaker 2: without at least touching on your makeup line.
43:33
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah four Jermina Diva dot Com, thank you
43:37
Speaker 1: for the plug.
43:37
Speaker 2: You're welcome.
43:39
Speaker 1: Yeah. We specialize right now in Matt lipsticks and eyelashes,
43:44
Speaker 1: but we are looking to expand, but for now, those
43:47
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43:50
Speaker 1: can wear up to twenty five times, and our Matt
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43:58
Speaker 2: I love that uh stick that your go to for
44:01
Speaker 2: track is called war paint. Yep, It's perfect. Yep, it's perfect.
44:05
Speaker 1: Perfect.
44:06
Speaker 2: Final question, You have an opportunity right now to offer
44:12
Speaker 2: the Natasha in twenty twelve, who is like doubting everything,
44:17
Speaker 2: one piece of advice going through that hurdle moment. What
44:21
Speaker 2: is it that you tell her right now?
44:25
Speaker 1: Be careful how you're speaking to yourself. You have to
44:29
Speaker 1: love yourself before anyone else can love you. And that's
44:34
Speaker 1: that's not even about track, that's just life, it's just yourself.
44:38
Speaker 1: I love it.
44:39
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for sitting down with me.
44:41
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me.
44:42
Speaker 2: Please take a moment and leave a quick review by
44:44
Speaker 2: clicking the link with the description of this episode. We
44:47
Speaker 2: all face multiple hurdles in life. I want to hear
44:49
Speaker 2: about yours. Reach Out to me at Emily at hurdle
44:51
Speaker 2: dot us. Connect with the podcast Instagram, Twitter at Hurdle
44:55
Speaker 2: Podcast Natasha. Where do they find you? How do they
44:58
Speaker 2: keep up with you? If they can even try?
45:00
Speaker 1: Everything is Natasha Hastings Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
45:06
Speaker 2: There we go. That's the rundown. I am at Emily
45:09
Speaker 2: a body, another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time